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An investigation into insects on green roofs unexpectedly found a new species for the Netherlands in Rotterdam, in the roof garden of Erasmus Medical Center: a Braconidae family wasp species. The tiny wasp is called Idiasta dichrocera, and does not yet have a Dutch name.

To find out whether green roofs actually contribute to biodiversity, the Natural History Museum Rotterdam is researching which plants and animals are found there. Particular attention has been paid to the insects that can be found. The first results are starting to show.

Eva Drukker, a master’s student at Wageningen University, did the fieldwork. She has placed insect traps on various green roofs and roof gardens throughout the Netherlands. These samples must show which factors make a green roof a success for insects and other small animals.

It is a coincidence that the new roof garden of Erasmus MC in Rotterdam, the neighbours of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam, produced the special find. There, Eva found a little insect that was unknown to her: a small wasp-like creature that at first sight looks more like an ant than a wasp. Thanks to expert Kees van Achterberg, the animal could be named.

Idiasta dichrocera is only 4 millimeters in size. It had never found in the Netherlands before. It was in other European and Asian countries, including Germany, Sweden, Russia and China. Almost nothing is known about its way of life. It is suspected that the wasp is a parasite of fly larvae. Just what the wasp was looking for on the hospital roof is a mystery.

The wasp is included in the collection of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam under collection number NMR 9970-137370. Enthusiasts are welcome to come and admire the insect. A loupe is recommended.

At a primary school in Rotterdam a riot has broken out about the spare time activity of a teacher. Parents keep their children at home because they find the art made by the teacher – sexy Barbies – indecent.

By Jitske-Sophie Venema

The Rotterdam School Association has two primary schools in Rotterdam. The parental financial contribution here is more than ten times as high as average at 760 euros, more than half of the pupils get the advice to continue at the highest level of secondary education and culture is of paramount importance.

The teacher of the fifth grade is an artist outside school. On her Facebook page, scantily dressed Barbie dolls can be seen, set in challenging poses. The plastic blondes kiss each other,

‘Oh, how horrible!’ these anti-Barbie art parents think; ‘children getting to know that some girls don’t fall in love in boys, but with other girls‘. P.S. They won’t get to know that from their teacher, as she makes the Barbie doll art IN HER SPARE TIME and exhibits it IN HER SPARE TIME. She does not bring it to the classroom.

bend over in a translucent negligée or have a star on their bare buttocks. These images drive some parents of fifth grade students nuts. “It is not normal for a teacher to have this kind of images?” they scream in an anonymously sent e-mail. The parents even think that the teacher is a suspect of child porn,

demand that the management intervene and do not want to send their child to school until that time.

School director Per Severin sees this happening indeed. “The exact number of children staying at home differs per day, but there are more than five”, he sighs. In order to cope with the situation, he has now called in the help of the Education Inspectorate and the municipality. “This is an excellent teacher with a long service record. What my teachers do in their private lives is not my business and certainly not that of the children – unless the private activities clash with our school principles. In this respect, these artworks are okay. Facebook has never labeled them as offensive, even though they are very strict in such matters.”

… “Of course, there can be discussions about art. But even if the majority would find these works of art repulsive, that does not mean that I will take away a teacher away from her class.”

A 61-year-old man from Barendrecht was arrested because, according to the police, he threatened a Rotterdam local council election candidate on social media. The target is a member of the Ubuntu Connected Front, which in the city council mainly wants to represent Rotterdam people with an African and Caribbean background.

UCF, which already expected racist or discriminatory reactions in election time, immediately reported the threats to the police. “The suspect could quickly be tracked down by the police’s fast actions”, says the UCF.

“This investigation revealed a doubt about the fire safety of the façade panels that are attached to the oldest part (building section C) of the Kralingse Zoom location”, writes the Hogeschool Rotterdam in a press release. “Based on these findings, the university has commissioned independent research.”

This initial investigation has shown that the façade panels of the building component do not meet the current standards of fire safety. According to the university of applied sciences, the certainty can not be given that the building component is sufficiently safe for students, employees and other users.

No risk

In June, 71 people were killed in the fire in London because the fire spread rapidly through the outside cladding. The Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences therefore does not want to take any risks and has the building undergo further inspection in the coming days.

This 14 December Dutch regional TV video is about Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch xenophobic and Islamophobic PVV party, presenting the new local party leader and number one candidate for the Rotterdam municipal elections on 18 March 2018. Opponents of Wilders were present as well.

That new local leader is ex-soldier, now unemployed, Géza Hegedüs, of Hungarian ancestry.

Initially, Geert Wilders said that the PVV was ‘only’ against Islam, supposedly not anti-Semitic or otherwise racist. So, he then said he did not want collaboration with neofascist parties like Vlaams Belang in Belgium or National Front in France.

Dutch investigators of the extreme right Kafka write about him today (translated):

Hegedüs explains during the conversation that he got to know the alt-right through Red Ice. According to him there are all sorts of differences within alt-right, but he finds that refreshing. Fortunately, according to Hegedüs, there is also a binding factor within alt-right. According to him, that is “the survival of the white race, so to speak.” David Duke, the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan “also has interesting things to tell” he says. Hegedüs complains about the allegedly dominant influence of the concept of diversity in society. “Of course you are banned from doubting the ethnic diversity ideal in the first place” according to the intended PVV party local leader. “Where it goes wrong” he grumbles, “is the principle of equality.” Therefore he rejects feminism “totally” and he no longer conducts discussions with people who deny “racial biological aspects”. …

The Jobbik party soon comes up for discussion in the conservation and the two participants let themselves be known as outspoken anti-Semites and Roma haters. “The gypsy problem was discussed by Jobbik. That was very strong”, Hegedüs says with satisfaction. But he also has concerns about the development of this party. “Judgments about Jews have disappeared altogether” and “statements about gypsies are increasingly going to the background”, Hegedüs notes. He suspects, however, that this is a strategy to attract moderate voters. “If that is true” says Hegedüs, then it is “a very good strategic move.” Szaloki confirms the analysis of Hegedüs. “The skinheads in bomber jackets have disappeared from the streets in Hungary. Now it’s people in suits.”…